2025/10/06 by Barreiro Morales, Elisabet
#Alternate History #CONTERFACTUAL HYPOTHESIS #GENDER AND LAW #LAW #LEGAL HISTORY #PATRIARCHY #ROMAN LAW #TUTELA MULIERUM
paper · doi:10.34626/2184-9978/2025_vol5_n1_1638
ABSTRACT: This study analyzes the tutela mulierum in Roman law as a mechanism of legal subordination of women under the guise of protection. Using a methodology based on the analysis of legal, literary, and historical sources, and framed within a gender and counterfactual historical perspective, the work examines the impact of this institution on the legal exclusion of women. The hypothesis of a Rome without tutela is proposed, exploring how such an absence could have transformed women’s roles in economics, politics, and culture, and altered the legacy of Western legal tradition. Results show that tutela mulierum consolidated a patriarchal order, limiting female citizenship even in its most advanced forms. This study opens new research lines on the persistence of patriarchal structures in modern legal systems and advocates for a gender-based critical reassessment of law to envision more equitable legal models.